Forfatter Rikke Andreassen har som den første forsker nogen sinde fået uhindret og ubegrænset adgang til både DR og TV2s arkiver. Hun har derfor – som noget nyt i dansk forskning – været i stand til at inddrage tv-nyheder i en analyse, der strækker sig over en længere periode. Gennem analyser af mere 300 avisartikler og 300 nyhedsindslag fra 1980’erne til i dag viser hun, hvordan medierne har beskrevet etniske minoriteter. Medierne beskriver overvejende etniske minoriteter negativt og i stereotyper som ’den undertrykte indvandrerkvinde’ og ’den seksuelt aggressive muslimske mand’. Bogen illustrerer, hvordan medieformidlingen fx har betydning for danskernes opfattelser af køn og seksualitet. Andreassen viser, hvordan mediefremstillingen af etniske minoritetskvinder som undertrykte spiller en væsentlig rolle i fastholdelsen af opfattelsen af, at der eksisterer kønsmæssig ligestilling i Danmark.

The book focuses on the Danish news media’s images of visible minorities from the 1980s to the 2000s. Through analyses of television primetime news clips and national newspaper articles, the book throws light on how the news media have represented visible minorities (refugees, immigrants and their descendants) in Denmark and on what functions these representations might have had for the construction of Danish nationality. By drawing upon post-colonial theory, queer theory, feminism, media theory and theories of nationalism, the book explores three aspects in depth: Firstly, it throws light on the actual representations and demonstrates how visible minorities have been represented in the news media. Secondly, it nuances theses representations by comparing them to their societal and historical contexts. Thirdly, it reflects upon the functions these representations might have had for Danish television viewers and newspaper readers. Regarding the third aspect, the book especially examines how the news coverage might have influenced viewers’ and readers’ constructions of Danish nationality and their understandings of gender, gender relations, race and sexuality.